Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what comparative assessment he has made in trends in the level of elective surgery carried out by the NHS in the third quarter of 2020 compared with the same period in 2019.

Published statistics for elective surgery are only available to the end of August 2020. These indicate that for July and August, total completed pathways from referral to treatment were 61% of those for the same period in 2019. However, there is an upward trend in activity, with 25% more completed admitted pathways per working day in August compared to July. 71% of last year’s activity for first outpatient appointments and 77% for follow-ups was carried out in August.